MOTORSPORTS: Best day of the Gillian Zucker era

This race day at Auto Club Speedway is, shall we say, unprecedented. For the first time in 18 Cup races, dating back to 2003, a NASCAR date will sell out.

It will be the first sellout under track president Gillian Zucker, who came aboard in 2004. And while she tried to downplay the personal significance of the moment, you could tell how special it is.

"When I saw the release (announcing the sellout Saturday), I got goose bumps," she said, adding:

"I can say with 100 percent certainty that this is an industry win. This is not about Auto Club Speedway. The support we've gotten from NASCAR has been absolutely unbelievable ... this is about all of us."

There's an asterisk, of course, with the grandstand capacity reduced to 68,000. But the infield is sold out, as well as the suites and skyboxes, and Zucker said she expects there will be more than 100,000 on the premises. (Those who got caught in traffic on the way to the track will understand.)

The reconfiguration of the grandstands -- reducing capacity by widening seating spaces in the bleacher seating areas -- and the removal of 10,000 seats to install a trackside hospitality area probably made this possible.

But the optics will be good. There will be no tarps covering any sections of grandstand. And there won't be many areas of yellow or red bleachers showing.

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